Rising Bubbles
by Wolfie-V
Summary: 'The wings shrank back into its back, while the fur diminished and the ears melted away. The bat's face changed, becoming paler, and before she registered it, Bonnie was looking at Marceline.' Rated T for mild violence, and the summary doesn't give much away, but its about Bonnibel Bubblegum as a child :)
1. The mysteries of friends and family

**Chapter 1 – The mysteries of friends and family**

"C'mon, LSP! Come catch me!"

"Uh, hang on Bon. Just a minute."

"C'mon, LSP, you're it!"

"Wait a minute, I'm eating!"

"Can't catch me-e! Can't catch me-e!" the first girl taunted, her high pitch voice floating across the garden.

"THAT'S IT! I'LL GET YOU!"

The second girl let out a war-like scream, and launched herself from the bench towards the first girl. Cookies, that the second girl had been eating, flew in all directions; landing on the grass around her seat, shattering into a million biscuit shards. The first girl screamed in mock-fear, but her voice carried more as a giggle across the yard. As she attempted an escape across the yard, she stumbled over her own feet and landed face down in the candy turf. She scrambled to her feet, just as LSP slammed into her. They both fell back down to the turf in a fit of laughter, flailing their arms in all directions in an attempt to stand – needless to say their efforts were fruitless.

Suddenly, LSP floated upright and pulled the first girl up with her. From the play-fight, the first girl's bright pink hair was ruffled up, her usually pale cheeks were rosy and her short pink dress dirty. LSP tapped her excitedly on the shoulder.

"Bonnie! Bonnie! I've just had the GREATEST idea EVER!"

Bonnie grinned that kind of smile that only small children have when they are happy.

"Go on, LSP…" she said, still smiling.

"Bonnie, we could, like, totally go and explore the SECRET ROOM!"

Bonnie gasped. It was daring. Too daring for a couple of 5 year olds? Before she could think about it, LSP continued.

"I can see you considering it. Fine, I DARE YOU!" LSP whispered in Bonnie's ear, causing her to gasp again. A dare?

"I double-dare YOU to come with me, then!" Bonnie replied, pointing at LSP accusingly.

"Ok." LSP agreed. "RACE YOU THERE!"

The two youngsters burst into the palace, past the banana guards at the entrance, through the great hall and straight into the Peppermint servant. He was knocked to the ground, and the books he was carrying scattered across the floor. LSP hurtled up the stairs, whooping and laughing, but Bonnie glanced back and said a rushed "Sorry" to Peppermint Servant before chasing her friend and ultimately colliding with her. Peppermint Servant, who had been about to scold them, couldn't help laughing a little at the princesses antics: after all, who could scold two 5 year olds just for being young?

The two whirlwinds rushed on through the castle, bumping into servants, pillars and open doors. They slid across the kitchen floor, annoying the staff who just washed it; through Bonnie's parents' lab and around the portrait corner. The penultimate corner was in sight, with just one corridor between them and sight of the restricted door. The corridor was lined with all the portraits of Bonnie's family – from the very first post-war Queen Caramel to Bonnie's very own mother and father, King and Queen Marshmallow. As LSP ran on, Bonnie felt the need to slow down at least to a walk under the eyes of her dead relatives. At last, she reached the end of the corridor, where she found LSP standing still, staring ahead down the corner. Bonnie turned to look in the direction LSP was.

The large blue door dominated the end of the corridor – it transfixed the two children, and they found that they couldn't look away - if just with the knowledge that behind its candy steel doors was a room they had never been in before. Together, they had explored all the rooms in the palace – even the cold, dark cellar basements. But somehow this door both excited them – and scared them – much more than those rooms. Gargoyles sculpted from gummy candy lined the corridor, looming menacingly above them. Bonnie remembered that their shape was human – she had never actually seen a human in their skin before. Sure, she had seen old films in the royal archives with humans in them, and seen pictures in the books her parents had given her – but never an actual human. It was the one thing she could never see, for the Great Mushroom War had destroyed all human life that could have possibly survived. The only thing she wanted was impossible; she vowed to see a human, and these scary gargoyles with scowling faces were the closest she had ever come. The door itself was printed with the yellow royal symbol, decorated with small yellow birds in flight. Bonnie did not know what kind of birds they were, but they took some of the seriousness away from the door.

In the time they had stood there, the atmosphere had changed entirely. A second ago, the children were laughing, but now they trembled in the presence of the door, holding hands and looking up with large round eyes. They tentatively took a step forward, the floor creaking as they did so. The creak echoed, as if the very palace was questioning why two young ones such as they stepped on its cracked surface. The echo made them flinch.

"Come on, Bonnie, it's just a door. We can beat it." LSP whispered, the wall rebounding every syllable.

"Please don't whisper, LSP, it makes the echo even weirder." Bonnie said, partly to sound superior but mostly from her own fears.

They took another step towards the door, then fear overtook the two and they sprinted the rest of the way. The suspense caused by the door was too much.

The two stood quaking at the door once they reached it. It had, by now, imposed such a presence on them that all attempts at making light of the situation were squashed. They stood there, just staring up at the door, then LSP spoke.

"Go on, Bon, open it."

Bonnie spun around, angered, and clenched her fists.

"Hey, I'm not knocking, you knock!" she shouted.

"No way. It's your house."

"What? But…you're older!"

"So? You're younger, therefore you have less to lose!"

"You butt!"

"You drama queen!"

"You meanie!"

"Whatever."

As they argued, their voices grew louder and louder, until finally someone in the forbidden room heard their voices and came out. The door creaked loudly as it swung open on rusty hinges, stopping the argument in its tracks, and the two turned around, their mouths hanging open.

The room was pink. That was the third thing they noticed. The carpet was pink, the ceiling was pink, everything was pink. So much pink, that it hurt their eyes. The second thing they noticed was the atmosphere of the room. It seemed…a lot colder than all the other rooms – even colder than the coldest basement room, yet in some way they couldn't comprehend…not. It was so big, and desks on either side made the room look like an office block. The first thing they noticed was the many staff running around – papers being stamped, people talking, and the general business taking place. Bonnie assumed that this was where her parents carried out the candy kingdom government affairs. Knowing what this room was, she found the room slightly boring.

There was a polite cough from the figure in front of them, and Bonnie realised she had her mouth open. She turned to LSP, who didn't appear to have heard this cough. She looked up, and the women seemed…stranger than anything else she had ever seen, what with her pink hair, plastic style face and fake smile. Bonnie found this last part particularly creepy, since it reminded her of the dolls in her bedroom; always watching her as she slept. With that, Bonnie made a mental note not to look directly into her eyes. The long pink dress this lady adorned was trimmed with gold and the golden royal emblem was embroidered on her chest. Suddenly, Bonnie realised that she had, yet again, left her mouth open – very unbecoming of a princess.

The tall lady coughed again, then (in a high, patronising tone)said "Can I help you?", never letting the plastic smile falter. LSP, for all her previous bravado, said nothing and started shaking. A wheezing sound came from her still-open mouth, one which sounded like "Nothing."

But Bonnie, who had long since sized this lady up as all appearance and no depth, stepped forward ahead of LSP and glared right back into her eyes with what she hoped was menacingly.

"Someone called us up here. Who are you?" she said with a forceful tone. LSP gasped almost silently – it was very unlike Bonnie to lie.

The tall lady, however, remained unfazed, and looked down her long nose at Bonnie. The lady smiled even wider and said,

"My, aren't _we_ the feisty princess? You shouldn't be in here, darling, this is a room for _big people!_"

Bonnie gritted her teeth and tried to step around her, but was only met with flapping hands, attempting to shoo her out of the room like flies.

"No no no no no no no, darling! Sweetie, you can't come in!"

At this point, Bonnie had had just about enough of this lady and her fake face. The patronising tone was too much to handle. Bonnie's sharp witted mind quickly formulated a plan, and she stepped back with lowered, submissive eyes.

"Well now dear, that wasn't so hard was it? Now hurry along and play dollies."

the lady continued, unaware that while she was busy talking Bonnie had grasped LSP's hand and was telling her the plan.

"On three." Bonnie whispered as quietly as she could to LSP. "We both run to the left of her."

"Which left?" LSP whined almost silently. Bonnie scowled and subtly pointed in the right direction. After a few seconds, LSP whispered back "Ok."

"On three. 1…"

"What are you whispering about?" the lady said sternly, the plastic smile still not breaking. "You know it's rude to whisper in front of _grown-ups!_"

"2…"

"Come on darling, tell your Auntie Treacle!"

"3…"

"Sweetie pie…"

"NOW LSP!"

With this shout, the two friends dodged past 'Auntie Treacle' and sprinted across the fluffy carpet towards the large desk at the end of the room. Behind this desk was a black chair, which had obviously had much use since it was clearly repaired with liquorice tape. But at that moment, Bonnie didn't care. With a childish curiosity, she only wanted to see what was on top of the desk. She ran faster, partly dragging the confused LSP across the room. The lady at the door had frozen stiff the moment Bonnie ran past – staring after them, not running; a last patronising word hanging from her lips. The staff inside the room fell silent; the fingers of the writers slowing, the rustling of paper quietening until all Bonnie could hear was the soft thuds of her shoes on the pink carpet.

Finally, she reached the desk and, finding it too high to reach, she rested. At this point, LSP poked Bonnie and said,

"Girl, its super creepy in here. Look!"

Bonnie turned around, noticing for the first time the silence in the room. A hundred pairs of eyes were watching her every move like eagles watching rabbits. The tension in the room could not be heavier if it tried. Bonnie wanted to leave, but a dare was a dare – they had dared each other, and if she left before LSP she would have failed. She was still looking around when LSP tapped her shoulder. She turned around again, and saw LSP's eager face.

"What is it?" she asked, unable to keep a hint of frustration out of her voice.

"Bon, there's, like, a TON of paper up there!"

"LSP, I'm too short to get up there!"

"It's no problem, I'll do it!"

Bonnie was about to ask what she was going to do, when LSP flew up to the top of the desk and a second later she was showered with paper, fluttering around Bonnie like wings. However, Bonnie was less than amused.

"Great going, genius, now whatever order they were in is messed up"

Under her breath, she whispered "When Dad finds out I wasn't studying, I'm as good as dead!"

LSP, offended by her friend's remark, floated down and offered a reply.

"Oh, so how exactly would you have gotton them down?"

"I don't know, but I wouldn't have just pulled them all off!"

"So now I'm stupid?"

"I didn't say that!"

"Yeah, right."

"I _didn't!"_ Bonnie insisted, but as LSP began a long-winded argument against everything Bonnie had said she lost interest in the argument and picked up a sheet of paper off the floor. It was part of an information document. She knew, since checking these documents against her studies was one of her duties. She had seen every single file – on every single creature, every single monster. But she had never seen this one before.

It read as followed:

THREAT TO CANDY CITIZENS: Non – existent

CONSERVATION STATUS: Extinct

KNOWN RELATIONS: None

LAST SIGHTING: Year 00 of the creation of the candy monarchy

OTHER INFORMATION: Last spotted by Queen Bonnibel the first.

After this point, the page was blank – the file had ended. Bonnie had her head spinning with questions: What creature was this about? Who was Queen Bonnibel the first? According to the data, the only queen or king to rule in the year 00 was Queen Caramel – no Queen Bonnibel. She absent-mindedly pocketed the file, feeling slightly sick. LSP stopped her rant, and looked at her friend with concern.

"Bon, you ok?"

"Yeah…" Bonnie managed to say, but she didn't feel 'ok'. In fact, she felt slightly faint. She gave herself a shake, and looked back at the staff in the room. They were all still staring at them. As if they were waiting for a show to start.

Well, Bonnie thought. I hate to disappoint, but I think I'll leave.

"Good idea!" LSP said. Bonnie looked startled – it appeared that she had said the last part out loud.

"LSP, help me pick these up before my parents return from the Grand Meeting of Ooo Royalty!" she said, gesturing to the papers on the floor.

The lady by the door suddenly called from the door, "Its ok dearies, I'll pick those up."

Bonnie pretended not to notice the patronising tone, smiled sweetly and skipped out of the room in a feign innocent-girl-in-a-castle act. As soon as the two were clear of the door, they ran out of the castle in silence, much quicker than they had entered. They ran back into the gardens, where they sat underneath a tree and ate the rest of LSP's cookies. Bonnie found herself eating more cookies than LSP, and ignoring the gossip LSP was spouting as usual.

She couldn't concentrate. All she could think about was the file in her pocket, and the darkness surrounding the information on it.


	2. The Monsters Within

**Chapter 2 – The monsters within**

Bonnibel Bubblegum lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Although it was dark, her room was gently lit with lava lamps. The bubbles inside the lamps pulsed slowly, and usually calmed her – she figured it must be to do with the soft lighting and the gentle colours. But not that night. She was too freaked out by the day's events. She reached to her bedside table, where a white envelope was sitting. She peeled it open, and took out a creased piece of paper. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to think through the situation.

First question: Who was Queen Bonnibel? After LSP had left that evening, Bonnie had gone to the royal records, where she had poured over every book she could find on the year 00. The information in the book 'The First Royals – Candy Rulers from the year 00 to 10' she found to be most useful, and she had taken the book to her room with her to read further into. And she felt that this was the time to read it in more detail. She swung her legs out of bed, and stumbled over to the corner she had left it in, before picking it up and dragging it back to bed. It was a large, hardback book that was quite heavy, so it dragged on the floor making a loud noise. Fortunately for Bonnie, it didn't wake anyone up. She hopped back into bed, pulling the book into her lap, and pulled the duvet over her legs. She opened the book to the page on the year 00, and began to read under torchlight.

'_YEAR 00,' _the page read. '_was the first year of established royalty known in post-apocalyptic times. Although no written records were given early on in this year, word-of-mouth has led researchers to believe that the first ruler was a Miss Catherine Caramel, otherwise known as Queen Caramel of the Candy Kingdom. Despite that she had no definite kingdom to rule over at this time, the desperate state the land was in called for some kind of order, which was later seen to be a good move on her part.'_

"This is boring." Bonnie muttered under her breath. "There must be SOMETHING worth reading in here." She flicked through the pages, yawning, when her fingers stumbled over something – a folded corner. She tutted – she hated it when people folded corners in books. She was about to unfold the corner, but stopped. Inside the page on the rule of King Frosting was a piece of folded paper. She unfolded it, and scanned the page. It was handwritten – not typed, like the file was, but the topic was one and the same: the extinct creature.

'_I have uncovered something that will be the downfall of candy royalty. I have come across information proving beyond doubt that Queen Caramel was not the founder of the candy kingdom. Let it be forever recorded on this paper that the creator of the kingdom was Queen Bonnibel the first, otherwise known as Queen Bonnibel Bubblegum. Due to a cover-up by the second ruler – Queen Catherine Caramel – the first ruler was wiped from history as she discovered something that scared the remaining citizens of Ooo, a crea_ of t_ _ec_e_ _.'_

Bonnie sighed loudly in exasperation. Her first real lead and the bottom of it was damp. She slammed the book shut, and threw it on the floor. It made a loud bang as it landed, and she heard the sound of footsteps running towards her room. "Uh oh." she whispered as the door started to open. She bent over the side of the bed, and shoved the heavy book under, then quickly put the paper she found with the file in the envelope. The light flicked on, and a teenager walked in. She was very skinny, and had pale skin. Her black hair was only slightly longer than shoulder length, and covered her pointy ears completely. She was wearing a dark rock shirt with some sort of snake on it, and wore blue jeans with it. Her knee-length red boots were usual attire for her, and Bonnie had grown accustomed to seeing her in them all the time. Her cheeky grin that she had seen many times was gone, replaced with one of concern.

"Bonnibel? What's going on?" the teenager asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Um…nothing?" Bonnie replied – the tone making it sound like a question.

"Yeah, right. Bonnibel, what are you up to?" the teen asked, unable to keep a badly hidden smile off her face. Guilt must have been imprinted in big letters on Bonnie's forehead, because the teen began to search the drawers, check the windows and cupboards. She was about to check under the bed, when Bonnie stood up and knocked the desk. The teen stood up, and looked over.

"I think I knocked the desk." It sounded pretty weak, even to her own ears, so she looked up with big wet eyes and whispered "I had a nightmare."

The teen walked over, and bent to her level. "Oh Bon-Bon. It'll be al'right. It was just a dream. Come on, let's get into bed."

The teen guided Bonnie to her bed, and tucked in her duvet. In a mock-sleepy voice, Bonnie said "Marceline – when will my parents get back?" Marceline laughed softly, said something about them returning the next day, kissed her forehead, then walked out and switched off the light. Bonnie heard a voice coming from downstairs – a male voice. He said "Hey Mar-Mar. Come outside – I learnt a cool new trick." He heard the door open, and just before it closed she heard 'Mar-Mar' say "Oh Ash, you sweetie!" Then the door shut, and she was alone in the castle. She was too annoyed with the book to pick it up again, so she rolled over and closed her eyes, realising that she was tired after all. As she drifted off, she could hear voices outside in the grounds, and the last thing she remembered was a blue flash illuminating the window.

Bonnie awoke from her nightmare to the sound of voices outside her room. She wiped the sleep from her eyes, and got up, intending to go over to her door, but she could hear well enough from her bed anyway. She recognised the voice of her mother, and the voice of the doctor.

"Will she be ok? I know what Ash did to her."

"Right now, I am not so sure, but her injuries were pretty bad."

What? Bonnie thought. Ash? Wasn't he the one who Marceline had left with last night?

The voices continued. "It seemed to be a magical spell tha-"

"How dare you? Spells don't exist! Your words are highly inappropriate."

"…My apologies, your majesty. I…I will go and check on her now."

There was a sound of footsteps padding away quickly on the carpet outside. Bonnie heard her mother sigh, then heard her footsteps click way in the opposite direction. She listened for a while longer, before walking to the door and looking out. The corridor was empty. This was her chance – she had to find out what happened to her babysitter. She ran along the corridor, her nightgown flapping as she ran, heading for the hospital rooms. Fortunately, the rooms weren't far from her bedroom, so she didn't have to avoid many people on her sprint. She reached the hospital doors just as the clock chimed 2:00 in the morning. If she stood on her tip-toes, she could just about see through the clear glass in the large swing-doors, and she could see lots of people rushing in and out of one room in the middle. Bonnie guessed that this was the room Marceline was in. Carefully, she opened one of the swing doors, being sure to stop it from banging shut behind her, and she crept towards the door. Someone rushed out, scribbled something down in a pad, and then rushed off down the corridor. Bonnie leapt into an empty room and waited, before going back into the corridor. It was a lot quieter as she walked towards the room, and the room appeared empty as she looked it. Defiantly no rushing doctors and nurses. She walked in nervously; the atmosphere of the room was weird. Like a sort of pressure was on her shoulders. It was silent too, more silent than the library in some way. And it was so…white, too. So bright it hurt. There was a heart monitor in the room too, and it was connected to something in the bed – but it wasn't on. Bonnie, even with her tiny knowledge of the circulatory system, knew that the line on the monitor was not meant to be flat. That meant no pulse. And that meant…

Bonnie ran over to the bed. White sheets covered the occupant of the bed, and one pale grey hand lay hanging out. The cuff attached to the monitor was on this wrist, and from this two things were clear. Number 1: The occupant of the bed had no pulse. And number 2: the occupant was Marceline.

Bonnie uncovered the sheet. Looking back at her with closed eyes was her babysitter, her normally pale skin had a sickening grey pallor to it and her black hair even darker than usual. A tear formed in the corner of Bonnie's eye – the face that looked at her now would never smile cheekily again. At this thought, she couldn't hold back the emotion. Greif, raw and pure, tumbled from her eyes, soaking the sheets around Marceline. She howled loudly, choking on the sadness. Through the tears, she could see what looked like two spots of blood on Marceline's neck, and at the back of her mind she wondered how a corpse could be bleeding. She wiped some of the tears away, and tucked the hair behind Marceline's pointed ears. It was defiantly blood on her neck – rich and red, not the colour of dried blood. Curious (and thankful to have something else other than grief to concentrate on) Bonnie touched the spots, and looked at her fingers. The blood didn't come off. It was as if it was dry. Bonnie rubbed the spots, and the body jolted. Bonnie started – and looked at Marceline's face. Her eyelids had jerked open, and a pair of blood red eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. "M…Marcie?" Bonnie said, reaching out to touch her face. Marceline's head turned sharply towards Bonnie, and a pale hand grabbed hold of Bonnie's shoulder. Bonnie struggled to get free, but somehow Marceline had grown very strong. Bonnie remembered that she was quite weak before, but now…it was like there was a different person in the bed. Marceline's mouth opened, and Bonnie went to scream, but no words came. Inside her mouth was a pair of very long fangs that had definitely not been there the night before. Marceline's eyes widened and a snake-like tongue slivered over her teeth. A hiss escaped from her throat, and she leapt at Bonnie's neck. Bonnie shrieked, and dived under the bed. There was a SNAP as the wire connecting Marceline to the monitor broke, and a loud beep as the monitor announced that its patient was absent.

Bonnie lay there, shivering with fear now, as she heard the monster prowl the room, hissing. What had happened last night? There was a crash from the corner of the room, a thump; then Marceline's legs vanished from sight. Bonnie was slightly confused, then there was a slurping sound and a sigh. There was a sound of confusion, then a sigh that sounded all too familiar. Bonnie crawled out from under the bed, and gasped. There, hovering in mid-air, was Marceline as Bonnie remembered her. Her skin still had that greyish tinge too it, but it wasn't as pronounced as before, and her hair was the same as before. In fact, the only things different were her eye colour, fangs and the floating thing. Marceline herself looked less glassy-eyed and more confused – she was staring down at her hands, inspecting them almost, and there was a very small tear in the corner of her left eye. Bonnie found she had the same small tear. What was wrong with Marceline?

Marceline looked down, and saw Bonnie staring at her. "Hey Bon-Bon! Guess I had a pretty crazy night last night, huh?"


	3. Getting to know you

**Chapter 3 – Getting to know you**

Bonnie's mouth was still wide open as the nurse came in a carried her out. She was still in shock as her mother took her back to her room, and tucked her back in.

"Now Bonnie." her mother said in a calming tone. "You've had a nasty shock. Just try to forget about it. Read one of your books, maybe."

"Mum? What's wrong with Marcie?"

"She had an accident. Nothing for you to worry about."

Her mum kissed her on the cheek, and left the room. Bonnie needed to take her mind off whatever had just happened, so she reached under her bed and took out the large book. She skimmed the pages, not really taking in any of the information, and decided to read into the year her parents became King and Queen - year 10 PA (post-apocalypse).

"_The ascension of King Bubblegum to the throne happened in the early years of year 10 PA. The candy kingdom was in disarray, and the new King was young, raising many doubts among citizens as to how the political system would be changed to fix the mistakes made by previous ruler, Queen Sugar. He quickly found a bride, a Miss Sandy Gumball, soon to be Queen Bubblegum, who helped him rule, and proved to be a tower of strength to the King and her subjects."_

Bonnie giggled softly – it was true that her mother was the power behind her father, and that he was really just a figurehead.

"_Mid-year, the Queen gave birth to an heir. To their delight, it was a baby girl, who they named Bonnibel Bubblegum. At time of print she is the only heir to the throne of candy. _

There was a large blank space which followed. Bonnie was slightly disappointed with the lack of information about her name – she had at least hoped that there would be something about why she was named after a conspiracy cover-up. She sighed, and flicked the page. She was met with no more pages of information, but rather, with a note taped to the back cover. She opened it up, expecting to find more clues – but the page was covered in scrawl which looked like nothing she had ever seen. It was a large scribble in a weird shape, and words were written inside the shape. Strange words, in lettering similar to that used by her parents. Words like "Grasslands" "City" "Forest". She folded this paper up, gently peeled it from the cover and placed it in her envelope. Under this paper was some writing, written directly onto the back cover. It read "Second on the right, first on the left." She carefully jotted this down on a random piece of paper, and put this in the envelope too.

Bonnie couldn't remember falling asleep, but she remembered waking up to the sound of her alarm clock. She sighed, and switched it off. 7:00 in the morning. That meant she got at least 5 hours of sleep. There was a knock at the door, and her father walked in.

"Morning Bonnibella!" he said, walking over and ruffling her hair. "Time for work! I've set aside 20 files for you to look through today. They're on your desk."

Bonnie got up, head down, and sat at her desk. Her father looked worried for a brief second, before shrugging and walking out. Bonnie picked up the first file, and began to read through it, signing it at the end with her signature. She wished that she could be sleeping, or playing. LSP would be eating cookies and using her new colouring book. She always got presents, she thought jealously. It wasn't like Bonnie didn't get any – but rather that she never got a chance to play with them. She picked up the red stamp on her desk, and sealed the file with the royal seal. It wasn't fair. Just because her father was slightly incapable of ruling the citizens didn't mean she had to work for him. She turned around to face the door, and saw it had been left open. She got up, walked over and closed the door, sighing as she reached it. Something brushed against her shoulder. She turned, and patted her shoulder as if to reassure herself. A noise from above her. She looked up, and saw a bat hanging upside down from the ceiling. Unable to stop herself, she shrieked and fell to the floor. The bat opened its eyes, and flapped down to the floor. The wings shrank back into its back, while the fur diminished and the ears melted away. The bat's face changed, becoming paler, and before she registered it, Bonnie was looking at Marceline.

"Wha-" she started to say, but Marceline placed a long finger over her mouth.

"Shhhhh. I shouldn't be here. I should be in that hospital ward they put me up in." Marceline whispered. "But it was sooooo boring, so I came to say hi." She held out a piece of cookie, and winked, smiling that cheeky grin Bonnie thought she'd never see again.

"How are you able to turn into a bat?" Bonnie asked, taking a huge bite of the cookie.

"Well, turns out that there are a ton of cool abilities that come with being a vampire." Marceline stopped, seeing Bonnie's face pale and drop the cookie. "Um…your parents didn't tell you, did they?" Bonnie replied by shaking her head, and Marceline floated back up, pulling Bonnie to her feet. She guided her to her desk seat, as in all honesty Bonnie looked as though she was about to pass out.

"H…H…How did this h…h…happen?" Bonnie stammered, attempting to continue eating the cookie but failing, as she was shaking a considerable amount.

"Well, I don't really remember all too clearly, but I have been told not to tell you if I remember. Sorry, kid."

Bonnie took a deep breath, then said "Was it Ash?"

Marceline visibly stiffened. "How do you know about Ash?"

"I heard you talking last night."

Marceline looked over her shoulder, and held onto Bonnie's arms. She flinched, and Marceline quickly withdrew her touch. She remembered waking up hungry, and being drawn to Bonnie's scent, and grabbing her arms in a kind of blood-lust. It was a silly move by all accounts to repeat the actions leading up to the incident. "Don't tell ANYONE about Ash. I shouldn't be meeting him in the grounds. Ash is…well, let's say that he did some things in your father's kingdom that weren't deemed correct."

"So he's a bad guy?"

Marceline smiled wistfully. "Yeah, you could say that."

Bonnie, who's cheeks had quickly gone back to their normal colour, smiled innocently and said "So what else can you do?"

"You mean other than float and turn into a bat? Um, I haven't really experimented. Most of the things I figured out I can do now are spontaneous and reflexes. Like if I get mad, my eyes become flames. Or if I'm really hungry, all my teeth become really pointed."

"Can you experiment now?"

Marceline threw back her head and laughed. "That might be a bad idea. Y'see, When I got mad earlier, I made one of the nurses pass out. And she is used to dealing with mad crazy stuff."

"Oh." Bonnie swung round to her desk, and picked up the next file. "So I guess I'll go back to working, then"

"You don't need to do that, hun! Come on." Marceline walked to the window and opened it wide. It was a sunny day, and the wind wasn't very strong. "Let's fly."

"Wh..What?" Bonnie said, staring out the window.

"Don't worry! I can carry you!"

Bonnie hesitated. Staying here being bored, or flying in dangerous situations? She smiled, and giggled. "Ok!"

"Great!" Marceline's face lit up as she floated over to Bonnie, embracing her in a bear hug. She waddled over to the window, and stood on the sill. Suddenly, two giant wings grew out the back of Marceline's back. They were ragged, and slightly torn. Bonnie looked into Marceline's face. Her red eyes were slightly green, and she had bat's ears.

"Woah. Didn't know that would happen." Marceline said as she flapped her new wings. "Hope it's not permanent. Oh well!"

And then she jumped.


	4. Adventure Time?

**Chapter 4 – Adventure time?**

After the initial shock of flying wore off, Bonnie decided that she quite liked flying. It made her feel free, and while she was in the air, she forgot about everything. There was something about having her feet off the ground that gave her a feeling of euphoria. Above her, two leathery wings gently flapped, their movements not seeming to affect their wearer. Since they began flying, Marceline had not stopped smiling – maybe she felt happy as well being in the air. They flew over the palace walls, and into the kingdom itself. Bonnie had never been over the wall before, and her eyes shone as she saw the citizens going about their daily business. If she squinted, she could recognise some of them – she recognised Cinnamon Bun going into her house, she saw Peppermint Butler getting the groceries for dinner. But she didn't know most of the candy citizens – after all, only some of them came into the palace. Marceline looked down and Bonnie, grinning, and said "Hey, d'ya want to go higher Bon?" Bonnie looked straight back into her red eyes and returned the smile. "Yeah!" With a flap of her massive wings, Marceline went higher into the sky, and Bonnie could no longer make out the people below. She flew further and further out into the mist, and Bonnie couldn't see anything except Marceline and the blinding whiteness of cloud. But she wasn't scared – she trusted Marceline with her life.

Marceline, on the other hand, didn't have that much trust in herself. She, in truth, was slightly worried. She could feel the air pressure increasing on her wings, making her actually have to work hard to keep them hovering, let alone go any higher. And the air was getting thin. Marceline wasn't worried for her – but for Bonnie. She knew that if they went any higher Bonnie could get hurt, and she truly cared for the little girl. The trouble was, she didn't know how far they had gone from the castle – they could, realistically, be in the middle of no-where. Unlike Bonnie, Marceline knew what was outside of the Kingdom, and it wasn't civilised in the least. There was no way a 17-year-old could protect a 5-year-old for very long. She began to descend – at least if she went lower she could see where they were. There was a sudden gust of wind, and Marceline struggled to keep her wings flapping. She looked down at Bonnie, who was laughing and smiling. Marceline put on a smile too – she could at least prevent the fear from spreading to her, too. Marceline descended slowly through the sky, so as not to scare Bonnie, and the wind got stronger. There's no way we're in the Candy Kingdom now, Marceline thought. The wind is never that strong there. Suddenly, Marceline dropped sharply. Her wings had given out, and had crumpled against her skin. She tried to float, but she was too high to keep there for long. She began to fall again, holding tightly onto a screaming Bonnie.

Bonnie opened her eyes. Her throat was dry and slightly sore, and she felt bruised all over. She struggled to remember what had happened, and flashes of memory came back to her. She was doing her work, then she was flying with Marceline, then she wa-

Marceline!

Bonnie quickly sat up, and looked around. She was in the middle of some kind of forest, and sunlight dappled the grassy floor. There were flowers everywhere – blues, reds, yellows, pinks. They were not species she had seen before, either – some kind of mutations, she thought. It was silent too. She remembered the books pre-dating the war she had read, and there were insects that made a noise like rusty keys and flying creatures with wings that sang. Bonnie looked down at herself – her nightdress was ripped and dirty, and could no longer be called 'pink' in colour. She sighed, and stood up. Her legs were shaky, and she fell back down again. There was a groan from a few feet away. Bonnie looked over, and saw a figure lying on the floor, which she could only assume was Marceline. She shook the figure gently, and it sat up. Her black hair tumbled over her shoulders, and she groaned again.

"Marceline?" Bonnie asked hesitantly, and Marceline looked over at her. Her face was bruised and bloodied, and her ankle looked broken. Still, Marceline managed to smile.

"Hey Bon! Sorry about that." she said, her voice sounding thick. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I think."

"Good." Marceline sighed, and even as Bonnie looked at her, Marceline's injuries seemed to be getting less worse. The wounds healed over, and her ankle looked a lot better than it did before. Bonnie gasped, and Marceline put a hand to her face.

"Wow. That's different. And cool. Mostly different." she said, feeling the smooth skin beneath her fingertips. "I guess I can add that to the list of cool abilities."

"Where are we, Marcie?" Bonnie asked, with less fear than would be expected for a child. Marceline stood up, and brushed herself down. She didn't float.

"Um, I guess in a forest? I don't know."

"Marcie, you're not floating!"

"I guess not. I lost a lot of blood earlier. It might be to do with that."

Bonnie looked around again. There was a sound like rolling thunder.

"Maaaarcie, I'm huuungry." Bonnie whined, pulling at Marceline's top. She noticed that Marceline's top was as clean as before, but didn't think any further into it. Marceline sighed, and walked to a tree. She reached into the branches, standing on tip-toes as Bonnie wandered over to see what was going on. Marceline's tongue stuck out, and she was clearly concentrating hard. Suddenly there was a quiet thump, and Marceline brought down two red apples. She rubbed them on her top, and handed one to Bonnie, who took a huge bite.

"How did you do this?" Bonnie said through the chunk of apple. Marceline smiled sadly. "Experience. I know which trees have food." Saying this, she bit into the apple, and cried out in pain.

"Marcie Marcie what's wrong?" Bonnie said, concerned for her friend.

"I…don't know…my teeth hurt." Marceline looked at the apple. Not even a dent. "Funny. You would think that teeth like mine could bite anything, but they feel bruised." She brought the apple slowly to her mouth, opened her mouth wide and shoved the apple in as far as it would go. Then, she clamped her teeth round the apple, and tried to pull a chunk out. But her teeth wouldn't bite into the skin, and simply slid off the fruit's round surface.

"Hmm. Maybe if I just…" she said, and pulled the stem out. She pulled gently at the apple skin from the hole left by the stem, making the skin taut all over the apple so it was semi-translucent. Keeping the skin pinched, she stuck a lone fang into the side of the apple, and drank the juice from inside. It was sweet, and tasted different to what a normal apple would taste like. She pulled the apple away, and looked at Bonnie triumphantly, to see Bonnie's mouth wide open. Again. Marceline looked confused, and looked at the apple. It was pale grey. Marceline dropped the apple, and turned back to Bonnie.

"Interesting. I'm sure it was red before."

Bonnie snapped out of her dazed state and her eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah, it's an apple. They're all red."

Marceline took this as a prime opportunity to tease her. It was clear Bonnie had never left the castle before – Marceline couldn't pass up this opportunity.

"No they're not. Some of them are green. Some are yellow. Some are blue. Some are purple."

"Really?"

"Yep. Personally, I like the flavour of the blue ones best."

"Can you find me a blue apple please Marcie?"

"Sorry kiddo, they only grow on blue trees."

All of this was said with dead seriousness, although while Bonnie was enthralled with the thought of tasting a blue apple, Marceline was trying not to laugh. To stop herself from smiling, Marceline turned around, and walked over to a tree. Her legs gave way before she reached the tree, and she began to float.

"Hey, it's back! Guess all I needed was some…er…" Marceline looked at the grey apple. "…'food'."

"Marcie? I wanna go home."

Marceline turned around, and saw that Bonnie was dirty and also that her nightdress wouldn't keep her warm for long. Although the sun was rising, night would just be around the corner. Marceline floated over to Bonnie to pick her up, and in doing so went through a patch of early morning sunlight. There was an itchy feeling on her back, and she reached to scratch it, but the itch quickly turned into a burn, and it was on her face, arms and legs too. She moved out of the light, and looked at the areas that had that feeling. The skin was blistered, and wasn't healing like her other injuries. She touched it, and pain shot through her like knifes. Bonnie ran over, and saw the injuries. She gasped, and there was a rustling noise. Marceline looked up, and saw that Bonnie had taken her nightdress off. For a second, Marceline thought she was naked, and she felt slightly awkward about seeing a 5 year old in the nude, but then saw that Bonnie had on pale pink panties. She wondered what Bonnie was doing, then saw that Bonnie was dipping her dress in a puddle that was nearby. She clearly knew what she was doing, because in a minute the dress was mostly clean. Bonnie began to tear strips of cloth off, and she ran back to Marceline. She bandaged the blisters on her arms and forehead, then wrapped the remaining cloth around her own waist as a kind of belt. Bonnie then looked back at Marceline, and smiled a smile that only little girls smile. Innocence and cuteness. Marceline couldn't help but smile back.

"You'll be ok now." Bonnie said, and kissed Marceline on the forehead, like how Marceline had kissed Bonnie before the incident. It brought a tear to Marceline's eye how the 5 year old had grown up too soon.

It reminded Marceline of herself.

She quickly wiped away the tear. She couldn't dwell on memories like that. "Thank you, Nurse Bonnie. I think I'll be ok now. Let's go and find someone who can help us."

Bonnie reached out and held Marceline's hand. "Are we going on an adventure?"

Marceline smiled down at the girl. "Yes, I think we are."


	5. Why is everyone so angry?

**Chapter 5 – Why is everyone so…angry?**

Bonnie felt like they had been travelling for days, although her rational mind knew that it had only been a few hours, as the sun hadn't even travelled half-way across the sky. She hadn't been walking the whole time – after a few minutes, Marceline had picked her up and carried her. To make things worse, she was hungry and bored and tired, things which she had voiced to Marceline repeatedly. Luckily, Marceline had a lot of patience when it came to Bonnie. They had been floating through the forest, and Marceline seemed to know where she was going. The only problem was that the trees were thick, and areas where it wasn't thick were sunny, meaning the only way there were going to get anywhere was through the thick forest. It was almost impassable, and Marceline had to tear her way through the foliage. All of this meant that they were moving at about 6 metres an hour, which wasn't very far. Defiantly not far enough to get them out of the forest before nightfall, which was mostly a bad thing. At night, Marceline knew that there were monsters, creatures never seen before, that would attack two travelling girls without hesitation. It was this thought that compelled her to keep going – it would be really bad if a monster caught up with them and decided to have them as a midnight snack. Marceline, for all her survival skills, had never fought anything in her life with the intention to kill it, and there was even less chance of her protecting Bonnie while she tried to kill it. Fortunately for Marceline, Bonnie was completely oblivious to this knowledge as she clung to Marceline's top whining.

"Hey, what's that smell?" Marceline said as she tore through a particularly thick vine.

"What smell?" Bonnie said. "Where's it coming from? What's it like? Is it a bad smell?"

"Shhh."

Bonnie fell silent, and she could hear a faint noise coming from the left. It sounded like a man's voice, but she couldn't tell anything else from the distance they were from him. Marceline's face darkened as she heard the voice.

"Ash." she whispered.

Before she knew what was happening, Bonnie felt Marceline move towards the voice, and they quickly came to the edge of the thick forest. They were in front of a clearing, but hidden by some vines. At this distance, it was easier to hear what was being said.

"Look, lady, I can't give you what you want. If you just leave me alone, then, you know, I'll be gone, like, forever."

It was the voice they had heard from before, and at this distance it sounded like a teenager's voice. Marceline's clenched her fists. Lady? What 'lady'?

"Listen well, boy. I won't leave until you give me what I want." It was a voice that crackled as the lady spoke, and immediately made Bonnie think of the witches in her fairy tale books. But witches didn't exist, right? Bonnie looked up at Marceline, saw her fangs, and changed her mind.

Marceline parted the vine slightly, and saw Ash talking to a cloaked figure.

"I don't have time for this. I have to go and check on my girlfriend."

"Not my problem, boy. Get me what I am owed or I will not hesitate to take action."

Ash sighed. "Ok, whatever, fine. I'll get it."

The cloaked figure turned around, and walked away into the forest. Ash himself mumbled something and flew into the air, leaving a trail of rainbows behind. Bonnie turned to Marceline, about to ask who the people were, but stopped when she saw the state Marceline was in. Her ruby eyes were wide, and here black hair was standing upright. She looked really mad. She growled, and flew into the air, momentarily forgetting that she would burn in the sunlight. Bonnie watched her friend go, before running into the clearing. On the floor was a piece of paper. It looked like a receipt of some sort. Bonnie was no stranger to transaction receipts like this. Her eyes scanned the page. It clearly stated that a man called Ash (who she assumed was the man she just saw) had brought a snow flower wand for…Bonnie could have sworn that the price was an item of emotional value. But how could that have been possible? The receipt didn't say who the payment was to. Bonnie picked up a piece of vine, punched a hole in the receipt and threaded it through. She then hung the vine rope round her neck to keep it safe. Bonnie looked up – she could make out Marceline in the sky, and if she listened closely she could hear screaming. As she flew, Marceline left a trail of smoke. She must be on fire, Bonnie thought. Beyond hoping she was alright, Bonnie didn't think much further about it, and began to look around the edge of the clearing. She found a gap in the thick vines, and pulled herself through the gap, working to pull apart the vines to advance forward. It took some time, but she eventually managed to get a method sorted out. She would pull the end of the vine, lift it over to a tree and tucked it around. This would be repeated until there was a space to move forward into. It was creepy in the forest, but so long as she was concentrating on her goal it was fine. She had been cutting through for a while, when the vines stopped. It was like there was a clearing ahead, except it was still dark overhead. It defiantly wasn't night-time, since the sun back in the clearing told Bonnie that it was around midday. She cut through the final vine, and landed face first in the mud. She groaned – her dress (or what remained of it) was already dirty. As she looked around it became clear why it was still dark overhead – she had reached a forest-type clearing. There were many mushrooms littered around, and near one of them was a large green frog. She watched it for a while, to see if it would jump or move or do anything, but it didn't do anything. Not. A. Thing. Bonnie crawled over to it, and poked the frog. It didn't even look in her direction. Bonnie giggled, and sat up cross-legged. The frog was next to a mushroom, and Bonnie decided to pick the mushroom as it was a pretty colour, and the frog wasn't going to do anything anyway. She gave the stem a sharp pull, and the frog gave a groaning type noise as if in response. Bonnie looked at the frog, and pulled again. The frog made the weird noise again. Bonnie decided to see what noise it would make if the mushroom was fully picked – this game was fun. She pinched the stem, and the mushroom didn't break. The frog groaned louder, and when Bonnie looked at it, it had its mouth wide open and its eyes were boggled. Bonnie poked it again, and the frog jumped onto the mushroom. The frog then shouted in a deep croaking tone: "ALERT ALERT INTRUDER NEAR PORTAL SENDING HELP." Bonnie looked confused, and went to say something, but was interrupted by the frog. "REQUEST FOR HELP SENT. INTRUDER CAPTURE SYSTEM NOW ACTIVE." The frog jumped onto Bonnie's head, and pulled at her hair. Bonnie screamed, and tried to pull the frog off her head. But it had a strong grip, and crawled onto her neck. It felt slimy, and Bonnie shivered. One webbed foot slid around her face and clamped onto her nose. Bonnie began to panic – she had no idea how to counter this. Just when she thought she was going to pass out, the frog jumped off of her neck and landed next to the mushroom. It spoke in a calmer tone. "Announcing the arrival of King and Queen Lumpy Space."

Bonnie looked at the mushroom. It began to glow, and suddenly a blueish-purple light projected from it. Bonnie remembered something that LSP had told her the other day.

"_LSP can't you stay a little while longer?"_

"_Nah gurl. I, like, have to go back with ma parents."_

"_Back where? Is it far?"_

"_It's, like, in another dimension. It's kinda lame. We have to go through this, like, mushroom portal in the forest. But it's a secret where it is. I wish I could tell you, but my parents would lumpin kill me."_

So this must be the portal LSP was talking about, Bonnie thought. A lumpy shape appeared silhouetted in the light, and it floated out just as the light faded away. It was a large creature, and had a man's face on the front. He had square glasses and a short black beard, and wore a green striped tie. "Lumpy Space King." Bonnie murmured. Like LSP, he had a gold star on his forehead.

"Intruder. It was unwise of you to mess with our kingdom. We are much more powerful than you could comprehend."

"H…Hi. I'm sorry, I didn't know." Bonnie replied, hoping that if she came across humble the raging King would leave her alone.

"Why are you in this forest? SPEAK CHILD!" he roared, then his back end turned around and Bonnie jumped a little. On his reverse side was a female face with short-ish hair and the same yellow star. It looked calmer, and looked into Lumpy Space King's eyes lovingly, stroking his face with her arms.

"Calm down, sweetie, you get waaaaay too stressed sometimes."

Lumpy Space King looked back, and visibly calmed down. He smiled back at the lady (who Bonnie believed to be Lumpy Space Queen.) and looked back at Bonnie with a stern look.

"Listen child. Be thankful that my wife's skill with my anger is great. Prepare for travel to Lumpy Space awaiting trial."

Lumpy Space King grabbed Bonnie's hand, and before she could protest he had opened the portal and dragged everyone in.

Miles away, Marceline was sitting in her home. It was a large treehouse in the middle of the grasslands, and she and Ash had made their home there a few weeks ago. Her burns were pretty bad, but they weren't as bad as she first thought. It felt like her skin was burning as she was flying, and it was one of the most painful things she had ever endured. But she was glad she made it to the shade quickly. In fact, she had mad it there before Ash had returned. This gave her time to change her clothes, do her hair and deal with her burns. She tried normal burn cream, and when that didn't work she covered them up with white make-up cream she recently found in a ruined house. She sat on the couch and waited impatiently for Ash to return. As she sat there, she thought over the events that had happened. It was then that her stomach did a double flip. She had left Bonnie behind. She began to panic – what was she thinking? She can't leave a 5-year-old in the forest alone! Especially one as soft as Bonnie! She wouldn't last an hour! Marceline stood up, and was about to fly out of the window when she heard the door slam downstairs.

"Mar mar? You in here? I heard footsteps."

Marceline took a deep breath. Bonnie would have to wait until she punched Ash in the face for meeting that lady. She hoped that Bonnie would have the sense to stay put until she finished with Ash.


	6. Time to leave - Tick tock

**Chapter 6 – Its time to leave. Tick tock.**

It felt like falling through an endless pillow, in the sense that the walls of the tunnel looked fluffy and soft. However when Bonnie reached out to touch them, they simply moved out of her reach. When the travel was finally over, the three landed on a large purple cloud, which had a house in the middle that looked like it was made out of the same material as the cloud itself. Mind you, if what Bonnie had already seen was anything to go on, then it probably was. The king whispered something to his wife, and she nodded. Bonnie was so busy looking at the strange new place she had arrived in that she almost fell over when the king began to lead her over to the house. They reached the door, and Bonnie was surprised to see that it wasn't locked. Was it that safe in Lumpy Space? Or were the royal family there just a bit bonkers? They walked in, and the house looked just as lumpy and cloud-like as the outside of the house. This really didn't come as a surprise to Bonnie – she half expected the FOOD to be purple and lumpy by this point. The house was longer than it was wide, and was like a corridor in style, To the right was a set of stairs leading to the top floor, and at the end of the ground floor was a partition wall leading to what could be a kitchen. It was quite a nice family home by any standard, and Bonnie found herself wanting to stay rather than leg it back to the portal. The King shouted "Daughter! Take this captive to the lumpy dungeons." There was a loud groan, and a thump from upstairs, causing the queen to look at the ceiling and shake her head. Bonnie heard someone mumbling in a voice that Bonnie defiantly recognised, and she immediately felt happy. Help was quite possibly on its way.

Moments later, LSP floated downstairs, arms crossed and a sulky expression on her face. Bonnie smiled at her friend, but the look was ignored completely. Bonnie doubted LSP even registered she was there. "I don't wanna!" LSP said sulkily, in a very childish manner.

"Daughter, you must see what the prison is like here. It is your duty."

"UUUGGGGGHHHHHHH" LSP said loudly, which to Bonnie sounded really rude. The queen sharply turned to look at LSP and said sternly "That, young lady, just stopped you from getting your sandwiches for tonight's dinner. And you'd better go right now, or you are grounded."

LSP whispered something that sounded like "lumpin parents" then floated over and grabbed Bonnie's arm. Bonnie tried to tell her friend something in a hushed voice, but was again ignored. Bonnie felt quite hurt – what happened to the friend she played with not the day before? Or the day before that? Had she upset her in some way? Bonnie was dragged into the awaiting car outside, and LSP drove off the edge of the cloud, where it floated for a bit then dived slowly towards a gaping abyss. "Hey, you can drive?" Bonnie asked brightly, hoping to strike some sort of conversation with her, but was received with stony silence. "What's wrong LSP? You always liked talking to me." LSP replied in a whisper so quiet Bonnie almost didn't hear it. "Bonnie, I shouldn't talk to you yet."

"Why?" Bonnie asked equally quietly.

"I'm not meant to know you. When I visit, my parents think I'm out shopping."

"At 5 years old?"

"Ya, well, we lumpy people age really slowly. I'm actually about 15 now."

"Woah."

"Yeah, its lame. I won't be officially a princess for, like, 500 years, cause I'll officially be an adult when I'm 15 in lumpy years."

Bonnie did the math. It didn't work in any way mathematically, but this was an alternate dimension. Anything was possible. Heck, they were in a floating car.

"I thought the P in your name already stood for princess."

LSP looked both ways and leaned in. Bonnie leaned closer too.

"K, don't tell anyone, but my name is Louise Sparkle-Park. It's a laaame name, so I call myself LSP and pretend it stands for Lumpy Space Princess."

Bonnie tried to cover up her smile. Sparkle. Even worse, Sparkle-PARK. Wow. No wonder she change it. To avoid laughing, Bonnie changed the subject.

"So…are we really going to the prisons?"

"Course not! A, why would I put my BFF on jail, and B, I'd do anything to disobey my parents. They're so lumpin annoying."

"So where are we going?"

"To the exit I use when I get away from them. It's really far down, so my parents don't know about it."

"Cool!"

LSP smiled. "When did you, like, start saying cool?"

Bonnie smiled back. "Since I started hanging out with you."

LSP pushed Bonnie, making both the girls giggle. For a moment, it was like old times, before Marceline turned into a vampire, before the file was found, and they were playing in the garden and eating cookies.

Back at the treehouse cellar, Marceline braced herself for her confrontation with Ash. She put on a blank, uncaring expression as he walked in, trying to quench the angry flames she felt now whenever she saw him. She couldn't explain why, but she had a bad feeling about Ash, as if her body naturally repelled him now. Ash walked up to her, looking strangely pleased with himself.

"Hey, open your eyes check this out, Mar-Mar" he said. "It's my new wand. These cherry blossoms, look, look as close as you can, and they're real." Marceline touched the white flower on the wand, and electricity zapped from it to her finger. She was NOT prepared for that. When there were flowers before the war, they didn't sting her. Well, at least, cherry blossoms didn't. She rubbed her fingers.

"Wow. Awesome. Where d'ya get the money for that thing?" she asked in a flat tone.

"Oh, I sold that teddy bear that you love so much. To a witch."

If Marceline's heart was still beating, it would have just stopped. She tried to tell herself that it wasn't real, it was a dream, and she'd wake up in her bed next to Ash, ans she'd be normal again, and Hambo would be there too.

"You what?" she whispered or maybe shouted. She wasn't sure, she was so numb. "Are you crazy? That was my favourite thing in the whole world!" Her brain was going slightly numb, like a brain freeze but hotter. She could feel her eyes getting wider, and see the red mist creeping in. The angry flames began to rise. Ash seemed unfazed, and kept grinning like a lunatic.

"That's why it's so valuable, genius! For potions!" He waved his hand over his wand, and a small ghost popped out. It was taunting her – saying things like 'You're not a genius'. And the flames rose higher and higher.

"That's the last straw Ash! That's it!"

Marceline wiped a tear from her eyes. She couldn't believe it! How could he do this? Why would he even do it? Funny, these thoughts seemed like dé jà vu. Like she had thought them before, but couldn't place when…

"You're a psycho jerk and you've ruined my life." Well, that sounded petty, even to her own ears. But she needed to tell him.

"But…not all of it"

"ITS OVER YOU PSYCHO!" Her hair waved out, and her eyes were bright red. Ash stepped back, clearly unready for this, and, unable to deal with this emotional defeat, Marceline turned and stomped out of the cellar, tears streaming down her face. She slammed the door, not caring if it broke, and went round to the door. It had turned night-time, and for this she was a little grateful. She opened the door, and stomped up to her room. She could faintly hear Ash running in to follow her, but she ignored his whines. She threw all her stuff into a bag (mostly clothes – and a few photos. Needless to say she threw the ones of Ash on the floor) and flung it on her shoulder. It was a brown backpack, the one that she had with her since the war broke out, and had written on it in red crayon "Marcy and Hambo's bag". Marceline pushed down her sadness of losing Hambo, choking with the effort, and jumped out the window. Rational things like red food or something to hold over her head only came to her later – right now, a good thing to focus on was Bonnie, who was somewhere in the woods.

Alone.

_Note:_

_Hope you are enjoying the story so far! Just a disclaimer – I don't own the dialogue here, or the episode it's from. It just fitted with the story. Plus, I haven't forgotten the mystery file Bonnie found. It will make a reappearance in the next chapter. Or the one after that. I don't know. Anyway, keep checking back, but the next chapter may or may not be the last for a couple of weeks. Starting back at school on the 6__th__ so i'll be busy with that. But I will return soon after with more stuff (and if A.T. get their heads on straight, there may be a short chapter for Looking Through the Ice! But that's optimistic.)Check back over the next few days for an update and…yeah, that's it._

_Wolfie out!_


	7. New Discoveries

**Chapter 7 – New discoveries**

Marceline floated towards the forest. It was beginning to get dark, meaning that her burns might actually heal, but with the dark came the cold and hunger. One whole day had nearly passed since the whole thing started, and Bonnie had had a total of two apples, Marceline having less than that. There was no way that she could know what was poisonous and what was safe in the forest, and she knew no-one in the area except the few citizens who lived in the castle. She floated faster, avoiding the various pebbles that littered the ground, when something large came into view. It was shown by the setting sun, silhouetted black and slightly ominous. Marceline stopped and stared at it with a look of confusion, when something clicked inside her head. Of course, it had to be the Candy Kingdom. She breathed a sigh of relief – at least she knew how to get back. She just needed Bonnie with her. She turned back to face the forest, memorising any landmarks that were nearby – there was Ash's house on the horizon, and…that was about it. She shrugged – take what you can get – and floated off.

Suddenly there was a bang. Marceline's head snapped towards the kingdom, and she noticed small dots near and around the boundaries. There was another bang, and she noticed a dust cloud appear not far from where she was standing. The dots were getting bigger, and in the darkening sky her eyesight got increasingly better. The dots were pale white, and had billowing cream sheet-like things behind them. Marceline recognised them from somewhere at the back of her mind – nope, they were NOT good things. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, but something had activated her fear. She turned back to forest and floated up as high as she could, moving in mid-air towards the safety of the trees while the loud bangs and thuds of the weapons continued. When Marceline was close to the trees, and she looked back, exhausted. The white dots had gotton closer, but were still a way off. Marceline didn't stop any longer to see what was going to happen next – she dashed into the trees and clung to a branch, hidden by the leaves. It was fully night-time now, and Marceline was able to see a lot clearer and further than before. At the back of her mind she wondered if it would be easier to find Bonnie in the night, but the panic from being shot at was still too fresh to act on the thought. She found that she didn't feel the cold, either – which she guessed was a bonus – so her rucksack was full of useless warm clothes. She sighed, and pulled out a black jumper, a grey strapped shirt and a pair of blue jeans. She changed her clothes from the ones she had been wearing, and flattened her hair back down to her normal style. She put the old clothes back in her pack, and pulled out a mirror. In the moonlight glare, she didn't even recognise the pale face that looked back. A lone tear fell down her face, and dropped onto the mirror. She slammed the lid on it shut, and threw it into to the pack. Why would crying help her? Anyway, she needed to find Bonnie. She flew up quickly, and even at cloud height she could see the whole forest. Unfortunately, the trees were so thick she couldn't see anything BUT the trees. She hissed in frustration – this was going to take FOREVER!

Meanwhile, Bonnie and LSP were still driving. They had driven to the bottom of Lumpy Space, and there was a small turn-off. Bonnie had been slightly worried as it looked like it hadn't been used for a while, but since LSP seemed cool with it she didn't comment. After a while, the drive was starting to get to Bonnie, and LSP too, so they stopped off in the lumpy tunnel.

"Um, LSP? How much further is it?"

LSP looked around a bit, and looked back with a look of confusion.

"Uh…I dunno. I've never been here before."

"WHAT?"

LSP grinned pathetically. "Ya, I think we went the wrong way. Maybe it was, like, right instead of left earlier?"

"Bonnie crouched down and put her head between her knees, before groaning. She was never going to get home. LSP floated over and put her arm around Bonnie.

"It's fine, Bon. There's, like, a zillion exits to Lumpy Space, this is probably one of the ones I don't know about."

"Y…you think so?"

"Ya. Definitely."

Bonnie lifted her head up, and smiled at her friend. LSP grinned back, and held out a hand to help Bonnie up. Once they were back in the car, LSP pressed the accelerator down and the car sped further down the tunnel. Bonnie, reassured by her friend, began to enjoy the ride, and threw her arms back and screamed, a big grin plastered on her face. LSP seemed to enjoy the ride just as much as Bonnie did, screaming louder and louder as the car rushed faster and faster. Both girls had their eyes shut at this point, so neither of them noticed the red light coming from the end of the tunnel as it loomed into view until it was too late…

Back in Bonnie's home universe, Marceline woke up on the floor. She was dazed and confused, until she remembered the events of the night before. Ash, the mysterious knights, Bonnie….

That's right, she thought, I lost Bonnie in the woods. She squinted, and her eyes adjusted until she could see it was daytime now. She must have fallen down when looking for Bonnie last night. Hastily she floated upright, grabbing her pack. She felt for any injuries, but fortunately her vampireistic skills seemed to have healed her. Despite all the cool healing powers her transformation had given her, she still had a pounding headache. She grabbed her mirror from her pack again, and opened it to see if she had any brain injuries. A pale face looked back, even paler than last night, and teeth jutted out further than before. Maybe I'm not fully transformed yet, she thought, and shivered as she thought of all the things that may still be yet to happen. She might turn bloodthirsty, and kill everyone, or she might end up not being able to go out AT ALL during the day. She might even become nocturnal. She pushed this thought to the back of her mind. Night was the scariest time of the day, when all the monsters came out – she couldn't even begin to imagine the fear that would come if she was forced to live only with them. Mind you, she guessed she WAS one of them now. She floated up to the nearest tree and pulled a thick branch off, thanking her lucky stars that she was stronger now. She didn't like the thought of being grouped with the things that tormented her as a kid – it was bad enough that they tried to kill her, let alone including her in their ranks. She snapped the branch in half, letting the sticky sap flow from within it. She was NOT one of them. The branch fell lifelessly from her hands, and as she stamped on it, it shattered into a million pieces of bark. So fragile.

She walked through the covering shade of the trees, away from the branch, realising that it had now been more than a day since they left the safety of the kingdom, and hours since Bonnie had eaten. Marceline reached into her pack, and pulled out a flashlight. Not that it would be much use in broad daylight, but its heavy weight was comforting. She thought absent-mindedly that this was probably the last flashlight left after the war. It had got her through many nights alone in these forests, and now it was ironically getting her through the days as well. She let the weight leave her feet and floated along casually. Bonnie wasn't stupid, that was clear. She had been doing part of her parents' jobs since she was about three, so chances are she could easily survive the night. But nevertheless, she had to find the little girl soon. The thoughts of a monster munching its way through bones flew threw her paranoid brain, and her heels dug into the dirt.

She couldn't die. She was the best thing in her life so far, bar Simon who had vanished soon after her ninth birthday. The happy smile the girl had given Marceline before she had flown off was imprinted on the insides of the eyelids, and made tears prickle the edges of her eyes. She had to hurry – there couldn't be much time left.

Bonnie peeled open her eyes. She felt warm, like there was a bonfire nearby. She tried to move, and pain shot all through her body. She wiggled her toes – one of her anatomy books told her that if you could wiggle the toes of both feet, you weren't paralysed. Luckily, both sets of toes wiggled without any pain. She looked down at her body – her pale dress was fixed with some kind of red thread, and she was wearing a blue jumper. To her right was LSP, who was also wearing similar clothes, but she wasn't conscious yet. Her surroundings were very unfamiliar – it was a grey, mountainous region that must have been there for hundreds of year, and the terrain was rocky to say the least. Bonnie rolled over and pushed into the ground, levering herself onto her feet. She found that was she had thought was a lot of pain was just bruising, and the sky showed that it was sunrise. She had been away from home for a day – a chill of excitement went down her spine. She had never been free for this long before! She sunk her head into the jumper, which was lined with pale blue fur, and walked over to LSP. She was in worse shape than Bonnie, and her arm was bandaged up with blue bandages. She tried to wake LSP up, but she just snored loudly when prodded. Bonnie covered up a giggle, and looked around a little more. Aside from the mountain, there was the wreckage of the car on its side a few feet away, and some burnt trees dotted around here and there. Now she thought about it, the trees _smelled _burnt as well – like someone had set them on fire recently. She turned back to LSP, and her eyes lingered on a shadowy shape behind the car.

"Hey! Who's there?" Bonnie shouted, and the shadow seemed to flinch. A moment passed, and then the shape walked over to where Bonnie was standing. As they came out of the shadow, Bonnie breathed in sharply. The creature had two legs and two arms, and stood much like Bonnie did. The creature had a dark, chocolate brown colour to it and seemed tense and scared like a rabbit. Bonnie cocked her head to one side, and the creature copied her. The creature had long reddish- blonde hair which shimmered as the morning sun fell on it, and coal black eyes which were wide in some sort of interested fear. The animal wore the remains of what looked like a yellow t-shirt and blue jeans, but these had all but charred away. Bonnie went to say something else, when the jumper she was wearing suddenly got a whole lot hotter, until it was burning against her skin. She cried out, and pulled the jumper off. The creature ran forward and grabbed the jumper. It was no longer blue, but now it was a bright red. Bonnie inspected her arms. They were blistered and hey gummy skin had melted into the pores left by the blisters. It was quite painful, but bearable. She reached out to the creature, which didn't flinch like last time, but the eyes widened. Bonnie looked at its arms – its skin hadn't burned at all.

"It's ok – I won't hurt you." Bonnie said in a smooth tone. To her surprise, the creature replied.

"Oh, ok. What are you?"

It – or rather, she – had a soft voice, which had a pleasant accent to it that Bonnie couldn't quite place but it made every word she said sound like a note in a song. Bonnie was entranced by the voice, and replied to her if only to get her to talk more.

"I am Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum of the candy kingdom, next in line to the throne. What are you?"

The lady stared even wider at the girl. "A…princess? Candy Kingdom? Wha…what is this?"

Bonnie didn't know how to reply, so she just stood confused.

"How old are you?" the lady asked, her fear dissipating as she saw the confusion on her face.

"I'm 5."

The lady breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh good! So you wouldn't remember" she murmured to quietly for Bonnie to hear. Out loud she said, "Ok. Why were you and your pet driving the car?"

"Pet? PET?" Bonnie scowled in a toddler-esque mood. The lady laughed, but not in a mean way.

"Don't get so het up, kid! I'm just trying to help! Where are you parents? Were they in the car?"

Bonnie's angry face squeezed up and she began to cry uncontrollably. The lady ran up and wrapped her arms around Bonnie. Her arms were warm, but not uncomfortably so. More like the feel of a fresh apple pie. Bonnie found herself comforted by the warmth, and she stopped crying. The lady pulled away, her face projecting one of pain briefly before one of sympathy.

"Calm down, it's ok. I know this must be stressful, but try to calm down and tell me what happened."

"We were driving. And I was lost. But we crashed. My parents are at home. They don't know I'm gone."

The lady looked shocked for a second, then rubbed Bonnie's shoulder in comfort.

"We'll find your parents."

"We?"

The lady smiled, and whistled loudly. Out of the rocks came more people, men and women, some looking like the lady with Bonnie, some with paler skin and blonder hair. Soon there was about twenty of them. Some picked up LSP, and the lady took Bonnie's hand and led her with the others towards a larger mountain. Bonnie looked up at the lady, who looked straight ahead.

She looked worried.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked. As she did, the look vanished, replaced with a small smile. The lady looked down.

"Nothing's wrong. It's just…" The lady looked like she was deciding something, then came to a decision. "I'll tell you at the camp. You seem mature enough to know the truth, Bonnie." She hesitated. "I…can call you Bonnie, can't I?"

Bonnie smiled. "Sure! I hate being called Bonnibel. What's your name?"

"My name is Frianne, but please call me Flare." She then muttered "Appropriate, considering the circumstances."

Bonnie was confused, then remembered that Flare would tell her everything later. For now, Bonnie seemed happy just going with these nice people.

She had even forgotten about Marceline.

**Note from the author:**

_Sorry for the delay, it was a struggle to get this fitted in around school. But hey, here it is! Hope you enjoyed it :D Frianne/Flare might make future appearances, so yeah, tell me if you like her please? Also, check back to my profile for my theories and junk based on recent episodes. It's actually just me rambling about stuff, plus recaps on the episodes. If you like that sorta thing, check back. But if you don't, no matter, just keep checking here instead. I'll try to get a new chapter every weekend, but that might not happen. Side note – chapters under editing, if you see a mistake PM or review it. I seriously don't mind, and I'd rather you tell me than leave it!_

_Adventure on, humans!_

_Wolfie-V_


	8. Is anyone out there?

**Chapter 8 – Is anyone out there?**

It wasn't that far to the camp, and the creatures were really very nice. Flare kept Bonnie talking about her life – what she liked to do, about her parents, her favourite toys and foods. Bonnie happily relayed this information, and although Flare hid it well, she was secretly horrified to learn about how a girl this young was doing her parents' jobs for them and they were taking the credit. She remembered back to a time before the war, when this would be a case for the social services. Bonnie was a sweet girl in many respects, and the fact her parents were forcing her to work was quite frankly disgusting. But she put on a smile so the girl wouldn't worry - she had enough on her plate as it was.

Bonnie on the other hand was quite content. Some of the other creatures had offered her food, which were mildly spicy cookies and sandwiches. Flare was very nice too, and Bonnie felt like she was safe for the first time since they she had got lost. LSP was still unconscious, but the creatures were laying wet cloth on her forehead to try and wake her up. Strangely, the creatures looked like they were in pain as they did so, but there were no visible injuries on any of them.

Pretty soon the camp was in sight. The camp was on top of the tallest mountain, and was on a patch of red soil. The buildings which made up the camp were made of what looked like black soot, but as they got closer it was clear that they were made from rock. The buildings weren't like the ones back home either – they were much more rounded, like mini caves, but they had windows and doors to them. There were no plants here either, making the land look barren, but there were a number of different animals that flocked around the creatures as they returned. These new animals walked on all fours, and were a very dark black, but seemed to glow from inside – much like Flare's hair. They had large eyes and their tongues hung out of their mouths, shots of hot air puffing out with every breath they took. One of the animals ran up to Flare and seemed very excited to see her. Bonnie was scared at first, then Flare told her that they were a creature called 'dogs' and that they wouldn't harm her. Bonnie remembered at the back of her mind reading about dogs. They, along with most life, were wiped out before she was born in the big war her parents told her vaguely about. She saw pictures in books of them too, and they looked different to these ones – they didn't glow, for example. But since Flare was cool with it, and Bonnie trusted her, she didn't say anything. She bent down and patted the dog on its head. It was warm like Flare was, and the dog licked her hand. Bonnie giggled – the dog was really cute. Flare smiled, and walked over to one of the cave-houses, indicating Bonnie to follow, and walked into the door. The dog followed, and Bonnie ran in after it. This really WAS an adventure now.

Marceline had reached the other end of the forest. It had taken her just a few hours, but she had combed the forest pretty thoroughly. No Bonnie. Not even a trace. This could only mean two things – Bonnie had left the forest and gone home, or she had been eaten by one of the many monsters that lived in the forest. Marceline, being optimistic, decided that she had gone home. Her stomach was knotted with worry for the little girl, and she decided that it was pointless to keep looking in the forest. She looked around where she was now. It looked like a separate section of the grasslands, except it was different in the landmarks it showed. Ash's house was gone, and on the horizon looked like some kind of settlement. There was a large wall around the settlement, and the overall thing was large enough to be safely called a kingdom or a city. It looked pretty futuristic – being painted electric blue and all – save for the fact that even at this distance it looked unfinished. Marceline floated over to the structure, curious at the sight of something that was nothing like she had ever seen before, and in a matter of minutes she had reached the city gates. There was a short pale green person standing at the main entrance door, and they were holding what looked like a spear. They wore a pair of leather shorts and had a shirt made from the same material. What was really strange was the ears of the person. They looked pretty much like everyone else did before the war, except the ears were much, much longer and pointed at the end. The person yawned, and looked around with tired eyes. Marceline landed on the ground, attempted to hide her teeth, smiled and walked up to the person, hands in her pockets. As she approached, the person looked up at Marceline with a bored expression, then did a double-take.

"HALT STRANGER! STATE YOUR BUISNESS!"

Marceline stifled a laugh at the seriousness of the person. She decided against giving her real name in case someone remembered the events before the war.

"Hi little dude. My name is Hannah Williams and I'm here to see the kingdom."

The person at the gate hesitated, then stood aside, saluting as he did.

"Welcome to the New World, Miss Williams. Please, do come in and meet the refugees."

"Refugees?" Marceline mumbled, and walked into the city gates. Inside she saw a sight that she didn't expect at all. Despite the glossy appearance of the city from the outside, the buildings inside the walls looked much like the shacks you would find in a slum sort of area. The floor wasn't concrete or gravel or anything – it was dirt. Marceline walked around the city, inspecting the houses and anything else she could find, until she reached a large open area in the centre of town. A large gathering of green-ish people stood there, all with pointed ears like the person at the gate. A male of average height stood on a raised platform on dirt in front of the people, waving a stick around as some sort of baton. Marceline sauntered over, hand in pockets, and tried to blend in while she listened.

"People of the New World, I stand before you a man of talent. A man who will make a change in this strange new land of monsters and evil. Elect me king, and I promise I will make a difference and restore order to this orderless land!"

The people below him cheered, waving their arms around. "Hey dude." Marceline whispered to the tall person next to her, "What's going on?"

"He, new here? Don't worry. We'll elect a king or queen to rule over us."

"What happened?"

The person sighed, and looked sad for a moment. For the first time, Marceline realised that he wasn't wearing a top, and his shorts were ripped. It seemed like he didn't own anything.

"After the war, our village was the only one left. No phone signal, no internet, no way to communicate. We are the remainders of the human race – all that is left."

A chill went down Marceline's spine. There were over 7 billion humans when she was Bonnie's age.

How could they all have gone in such a short space of time? The man continued.

"There were hundreds of us before, but people started to…change. They became green and their ears became point. Their teeth grew pointed too, and they became thinner and slightly shorter. They began to fear even normal things, like dogs and cats, and lose the ability to reproduce. Some of them even went savage, and ran into the woods. I fear that soon we shall all go the same way as those unlucky few did. Our number is low enough as it is."

Marceline swallowed dry air. Was this man crazy, or had he just not noticed that HE was green with pointed ears too. Or maybe he chose not to notice.

"What happened to those few?" she asked fearfully.

"We isolated those who weren't a danger. They are locked up on the other side of town. The ones that were a danger? We don't know. They may still be alive, but I doubt it."

"How long ago was this?"

"A few years ago when the first man started to change."

Marceline began to feel sick, so she thanked the man and walked over to the nearest house. She sat very still on the doorstep of the house, and put her head between her knees. It was clear none of these people were human any more, but their actions were still just a bad. Locking up people because they were different? So much like them. Her mind wandered to a hazy memory of her as a child, shouted at and crying in the forest, scorned by the human race and attacked by them. She cleared her mind straight away. These thoughts were only going to make her angry and sad. Right now, it looked like Bonnie wasn't the only one in danger from monsters…

"Hey Flare," Bonnie said with a cookie in her mouth, "How come you all live up here and not in the candy kingdom?"

Flare laughed, and took another cookie. "Well, there are so many places in the world for people to live, y'know. They don't all live in the candy kingdom!"

"Oh." Bonnie looked at her knees. "So, there are more of you?"

"Yeah, there used to be. Until…well, something happened."

Bonnie cocked her head, and Flare sighed. "Yeah, didn't think you'd understand. You're still so young, after all. Well, there was this huge war, and -"

There was a knock on the door. Flare got up, and looked through the window. "Oh no." she whispered. She turned back to Bonnie, who was confused, and ran over, grabbing Bonnie by the shoulders and looking her in the eyes.

"Listen Bonnie, I'd love to tell you, but right now we need to leave. Most of my tribe are cool, but there are some who…well, let's just say that they are different in a bad way."

"Like the mouldy bread at the bottom of the bag?"

"Yeah, like that. We need to go _now._"

Bonnie nodded, and grabbed Flare's hand. She ran to the back of the cave, which had a set of stairs hidden in the dark. For some reason, Flare's soft glowing hair lit the cave up enough to see by, and the two ran down the steep stairs. Bonnie nearly tripped a few times along the way, but Flare seemed panicked about something. They were about halfway down the flight of stairs when there was a loud bang from upstairs, and a whimper from Flare's dog. Flare's grip tightened, and her hair glowed brighter. Under normal circumstances, Bonnie would have asked her about it, but she was busy running. She could hear footsteps coming after them, and (it might have been her mind playing tricks on her, but) the walls were getting brighter and hotter. Flare gasped, and Bonnie could see a pile of rocks at the end of the stairwell. Bonnie felt her stomach drop, and as they reached the rock fall Flare began to hit the rocks over and over. As she did, the air began to get hotter and hotter, and Bonnie began to sweat.

"Hey, Flare? What's going on?"

Flare didn't reply – she just kept punching rocks. Bonnie turned around, and saw light coming down the stairs. The steps were slower – more walking pace. It had them cornered. Bonnie turned back to Flare. She was staring straight at Bonnie, and her eyes were red. Bonnie started to shake, but Flare grabbed Bonnie hand. It was hotter than the candles at home, but when Bonnie looked it hadn't harmed her skin. She looked back at Flare, who was glowing all over now, even her clothes.

"Bonnie. On the count of three, I want you to duck."

"Wha-"

"Just trust me. Please, Bonnie."

Bonnie looked at Flare straight on. She looked desperate. And the air was getting hotter. After a few seconds, she said "Ok."

"Right. Three…"

Flare started glowing crazily bright, Bonnie could just about look at her.

"Two…"

Bonnie heard the crackle of something, like a fire, and it smelled like it did outside with the trees. A footstep sounded right behind Bonnie, and there was a menacing laugh. Bonnie froze, and even Flare looked panicked for a second.

"One…"

This time, the number was whispered so that whoever it was didn't hear. Bonnie felt warmth right behind her head, and she stifled a scream as it made contact with her neck. It burned like nothing she had ever felt, and something sticky slipped down her back. She felt faint, but remembered what Flare had said. She had to duck right then. Flare herself had her eyes closed, and a look of concentration was on her face. Bonnie threw herself to the stone ground, skinning her knees as she did, and there was a hiss like fire being put out with water and a scream.

Then everything went dark.


	9. Make new friends but keep the old

**Chapter 9 – Make new friends but keep the old**

Bonnie woke with a start. She was back in Flare's cave-home. Both her arms had long burn marks on them, and they stung faintly, but they were bandaged up with pale blue bandages. She sat upright from her position on the bed, and saw Flare staring at her, with a mixture of concern and fear. Bonnie's head pounded, and memories came flooding back. She gasped – did Flare get rid of the intruder?

"Yes, they're gone." Flare said, as if she could read Bonnie's mind.

"What happened?" Bonnie asked, holding her head. Her vision was blurred, and she could see that since they went down the stairs, evening had arrived. It had now been more than 2 days since she left the palace.

"Well, I know you are probably really confused right now, so I think it would be easier if the elder told you. His name is The King – well, that's just a nickname, but we can't remember his real name."

Bonnie just accepted this without question. Her head was aching as it was. Flare got up, took Bonnie's hand and led her out of the house. Since Bonnie's head was spinning, she didn't take much in, but there was a point when she was walking when she thought she saw LSP floating around with one of the males. She reached a large cave in the centre of town, which appeared to have two storeys to it and streamers around the doorways. Flare pulled her in and sat her down on a chair. This room was poorly lit, and a large shadow was occupying the other end of the room. A deep voice with the same song-like tone as Flare said "Thank you Flare. That will be all." Flare bowed to the shadow, and exited backwards. Bonnie shook her head to clear it – this didn't look like a good situation to be in, and she needed all her wits about her when she met with whoever this was. There was a long-ish silence, then Bonnie stepped forward into the cave, her wits refreshed and steps echoing.

"Don't come any closer, Bonnibel Bubblegum. Please."

Bonnie froze in her tracks, A bead of sweat rolled off of her face, and her breathing became shallow. The voice spoke again.

"Do not be afraid, child. All is well. Nothing evil. Calm yourself."

Bonnie wasn't calmed in any way by the words, and her heart began to beat faster as she saw the shadow move from out of the corner of her eye. It came closer towards her, and as it came into the light Bonnie gasped. For before her stood a creature which looked exactly like Flare and her friends, except it was a lot…darker. Its hair didn't glow, and neither did its skin. In fact, it looked nothing like any of the others in the village. Bonnie was so shocked for a moment that she didn't know how to respond, and the creature took this opportunity to whisk a chair out of the shadows. Unlike everything else in this town, it wasn't made of tin foil or stone. It was a small wooden chair, with a red pillow tied to it. Strange thing was, it was exactly Bonnie's size. The creature pushed Bonnie onto the chair gently, and went back to the shadows. A moment later, there was a quick flash of blue and the entire cave was lit up. Bonnie suspicions of earlier were confirmed – this cave did indeed have two floors to it, and the route to the second floor was shown by a string ladder hanging down to the floor. Bonnie looked around the cave a little more. The person was clearer to see now, and it had very pale hair and a long white beard. It smiled at Bonnie, and pulled up a chair in front of her. Bonnie smiled nervously back at it, and clung to the seat of the chair. The creature seemed pleased that Bonnie was smiling, and seemed to relax visibly.

"So, Miss Bonnibel-"

"Please, call me Bonnie."

"Oh." The creature grinned. "Well, Bonnie, I expect you want answers about our little village. Well, sit tight, because you're going to be here for a while."

"You see, about fifteen years ago, there were two sides. One side wanted exactly what the other side didn't want. For example, one side wanted one person to rule over the people, appointed by their bloodline to become leader. The other side wanted the people to choose their leader. Each side built weapons – unspeakable weapons of unbelievable power. At one point, the two sides came so close to destroying the entire world. But luckily, sense returned to them before that happened. Years passed, and peace returned to the world. Well, mostly. Y'see, people kept on fighting each other, and in each brain of every person a small nugget of the same insanity was passed on, and it spread like an infection into all beings. Until one day, around 20 years ago, a group of these people, pure with the insanity, found the weapons of old, and set them off on a collision course with destruction. Within 15 minutes, the weapons had hit the ground. Within one minute of this happening, all the people were gone – hidden, dead or worse." The King paused. "And you don't wanna know what worse was. Anyway, pretty soon small colonies of survivors were set up. Soon after this, strange things began to happen to the survivors. People began to look different, change colours to greens, yellows, reds. People got strange abilities, and worst of all, their personalities began to change. People became…evil. Sure, some stayed as they were – even, some got better. But those evil ones slowly began to take over. And this is where we are now. Take heed, my child, for a great evil is growing."

Bonnie stared at the man. "Uh, I have no idea what you were talking about."

The King looked disappointed, then muttered something which sounded like 'I couldn't expect a child to understand'. Then he smiled, and looked at Bonnie.

"Uh, King? Who are all these people?" Bonnie asked.

The King smiled warmly, and put his hand on Bonnie's shoulder.

"Please, call me Simon."

Back at the human camp, Marceline had taken a seat amongst the crowds at the centre. She had been there for hours, and in that time, many men had got onto the small stage and pitched themselves to the masses. Over the course of the 'election', Marceline noticed that many people had fallen asleep, but the men on the stage didn't seem to notice, so wrapped up in their speeches as they were. At last, the final man got down from stage, and as he did, a number of small men ran around the audience handing out white pieces of paper and tiny pencils to everyone. Marceline got hold of one pretty fast, and looked down at the paper. Along to top in red writing, it read, "First Annual Election, Year 16 Post-Disaster." There then read a list of names, and an outline of their demands and promises. Next to these were small boxes. Marceline looked around, confused as to what she was meant to do, and saw all the people putting little crosses in one of the boxes. She also noticed that not everyone was doing so – there was one man in the corner of the square who ripped up his paper and dropped it like confetti onto the floor. He looked up, and, seeing Marceline staring at him, beckoned her over with his arms and ran to the other side of the square, glancing back when he reached the other side. Marceline walked over, hoping to blend in as much as she could, even though no-one was taking any notice of her. Once she reached the man, he walked through what looked like a poorer part of the town to what she had already seen. The shack-like huts she saw earlier were nothing compared to this end of town – she was lucky if she saw a house with all four walls and a roof as she walked along. Finally, she reached a large wooden hut. This one had holes where windows were meant to be, and she could see shaped moving around within the house. The man walked in the door opening, and Marceline followed him. Once inside, the man lit a torch with a primitive match, and the situation was revealed to Marceline. The house was filled with men, women and children, all pale green, all with pointed ears, all shorter than the average human. They're eyes were wide with fear, and their clothes ripped. Many were coughing, and a number of obviously elderly people were lying on thin blankets. The floor was muddy, and the level of hygiene in the place was not great at all. Marceline's eyes filled with tears at the sight – how could people little more than ten metres away not notice this desperate situation? The man that had led her to this place tugged at her sleeve, and Marceline looked down. His face was worn, and he had a quiet superiority about him, yet he seemed relatively young. He spoke with a husky tone as he spoke to Marceline.

"You're like us, aren't you? You're an outsider?"

Marceline smiled, and a tear rolled down her cheek as she whispered "Yes."

The man grinned, and held her hand to keep her attention.

"My name is Michal Gorflox. As you can see, we are in a bit of a fix here. You've probably already been told, but our race is turning into something else, and the people who aren't affected as badly locked us away in this part of town." His eyes connected with Marceline's, and he had a look of desperation about him. "We aren't bad people!"

Marceline wiped the tears from her eyes, and reassured Michal with a smile.

"It's ok, Michal. I'll help sort this, but right now, I want you to understand something."

Marceline closed her eyes, and lifted her feet off the ground, hovering slightly in mid-air. She brushed her hair back behind her ears, showing the bite marks and the pointed demon ears. She waited for the gasps of shock, but she was met with silence. She opened her eyes, and saw the people looked up at here, and to her surprise, most of them were smiling. Michal gripped her hand, and the look of joy on his face was fuel to Marceline's confidence.

"You…you are happy I'm a vampire?" she asked with apprehension.

"Yes! It means that it's not just us! There are others who have changed! Also, with a vampire on our side, we are BOUND to beat the other people!"

Marceline looked confused, and Michal shook his hands.

"I'll explain. We plan to overthrow the other humans, and demand equal rights for us. It's not fair, and we think there should be rules to this stuff."

Marceline nodded in agreement, and as she did so, an elderly man stumbled forwards, using a stick for support. He reached halfway to Marceline, before stumbling, and a lady rushed to his aid. The man shakily looked up at Marceline, and smiled slowly.

"Yes…..I recognise you." he said, and Marceline gasped as a memory forced itself forward.

Marcie stumbled through the streets. People were rushing past, uncaring and cold, and some spat at her as she walked past. She heard the cries of 'Freak' from the people, and the mean stares she got. She was crying, but no-one noticed. In the haze of her tears, a strong arm gripped her shoulder, and she panicked for a moment when she felt a tissue wipe her eyes gently and place a cookie in her hand. Above the shouting mob, a loud voice yelled to leave her alone, and pretty soon the streets were back to how they were before – busy and uncaring. Marcie looked up into kind eyes, and she nibbled on the cookie. The man rubbed her back, and gave her the rest of the bag of cookies. He told her that everything would be alright, and watched as Marcie walked away, happy and comforted.

"It's….you!" Marceline gasped, and the elderly man laughed softly, the effort making him cough. Marceline ran forward and gave the man a hug. "Thank you so much for helping me all those years ago." She turned to the rest of the people in the room, and said "And now it's my time to repay you, repay you all."

"Good." Michal said. "Then we're gonna need supplies."

_Note: Sorry I couldn't upload this sooner, and sorry it didn't really get anywhere regarding Bonnie and Marceline. This chapter, to be honest, was more of a filler, preparing for the next one. Trust e, you don't wanna miss the next chapter – let's just say that these new allies will turn out to be a lot stronger than we realised…_


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